Testing of cryptographic devices is well known in the art. In particular, a cryptographic device is conventionally tested by providing a vector set to the cryptographic device, allowing the cryptographic device to encrypt the vector, and examining the encrypted output to determine if the vector set has been properly encrypted.
However, because of the secure nature of cryptographic devices, maintenance of the test vectors, and the testing itself, must be conducted in a secure facility by cleared personnel. Furthermore, the test vectors must be carefully chosen to obtain maximum test coverage of the cryptographic device. These constraints make the conventional testing methods extremely expensive.